I hear you. Current car is a 2003 one owner and carfax shows nothing.
He has the service records as well. Seems like it was a weekend car, Not a dent ding or scratch.

Will see when we get out there.

 

ddawson
don't let color sway you.I held out for BRG and found one with not all the options i wanted and bought it anyway. Now i see other color combos and like them almost as well as my BRG/W.
My 2C worth, find a good value ( price) that's been cared for with some warranty left and pull the trigger!
have fun
boxcars

 

I hope this is the one for you. Perhaps tomorrow we'll see a post from you indicating that you're a new MINI owner. Good luck!

 

Keep looking

Red is great color and especially with black bonnet stripes/rims ect. There are a lot of roof graphics that seem to match Red better too.....

The right MINI for you is out there, be patient and you woun't have to settle for something you will regret later.

Maybe you can get an 06 ? It will also have warranty and they had the best Consumer Reports ratings of them all.

 

Just to let you know. I bought my '05 MCS at Carmax. You should consider buying there. I by no means am related to this company, but think they are fairly reputable. They go through a strict process in order to select the cars they retail, whatever doesn't meet their criteria, goes to "wholesale" to be bought BY OTHER DEALERS!!! I paid more than 16K for mine(which in my own humble opinion is kinda low for an '05, get suspicious), but still has remaining factory warranty, and I added the "Maxcare" warranty that let's you choose either to bring it up to any carmax for warranty repair and you only pay $50 or something like that as a deductible, or bring it up to any repair shop(INCLUDING THE MINI DEALER!) and you pay like $70 deductible, which I don't think it's a bad deal at all.
Just in case you can widen your budget a bit:

http://www.carmax.com/enUS/search-re...af3b7e7&ANi=60

 

Nope, I love when people state it's perfect. Front bumper needs paint, rear bumper needs paint and the kicker, Passenger side rear panel was repaired and looks horrible.

You could see the sanding marks under the paint. Perfect my butt.

I've come to the conclusion that most owners use them as drivers and don't repair the damage they accumulate over time. Or I'm just too picky.

The search continues.

 

Yes indeed, if there is one of MANY things I have learned after buying 200 cars or so, and seeing lots more, is that a seller's definition of perfect is far different than mine.

What I do to figure things out, BEFORE thinking that maybe I have found the perfect car:

I read the ad and "grade" it on grammar and spelling. If the person writes like his name is Neander and has a wife named Thal, I don't waste time going any further.

I also read the content of the ad and look for words that truthful and non-mental slobs would put in an ad, such as "No door dings or chips, I am the type of person who parks to avoid door dings. Non-smoker. No stains on seats, people were not allowed to eat in my car. Well maintained, changed oil often and have receipts to prove it. Car runs perfect. Run the AC for ten minutes and you will see the engine does not overheat."

After an ad passes muster I then "interrogate" the seller on the phone. Once again, if the seller sounds like a moron, I pass on the car. If the person sounds OK I then ask detailed questions. And I listen for coughs, throat clearing and words so to determine if someone is lying.

Perhaps one of my most memorable calls, to where I did not bother to see the car, was when I was asking someone if the car was in good condition. "Oh yes" was the answer. I then went on to ask details since I doubt anyone would say "Well since you ask, truthfully the car is a POS."

I ask if the car has door dings. Not willing to lie too much she said "Well the car has lots of 'love bites' from being at shopping centers and what not." [Yes, she said "love bites."]

I then asked if there were a lot or maybe one or two. She said "Well, they are all up and down each side but I am sure it can be fixed if it bothers you."

I ended the conversation after that.

And here is another one, only mentioning because it illustrates the point of reading ads carefully.

I was helping a friend shop for a used Mercedes. He called on one from the paper. The ad had loads of info, except it did not say what color it was.

So my friend calls. Here is the conversation:

Seller: Hello

Buyer: Hi, I am calling about the Mercedes, is it still for sale?

Seller: Why yes it is.

Buyer: What color is it:

Pause

Buyer: <click> He hangs up the phone.

Me: What happened?

Buyer: He said the Mercedes was lime green.

Guess we know why the seller did not mention the car's color in the ad.

 

You are not being too picky, the cars are crappy ones being sold by low class morons who should be sterilized and banished to a remote island.

Since you are in the Bay Area I am assuming you are checking Craig's List by the hour. Friday and Saturday the ads pop up at all hours of the day and night.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/c...min&maxAsk=max


One time I saw a bike listed at about 10:00 PM on Friday, by 8:00 am I was in Mountain View paying cash for it [a Yamaha R1 with about 2000 miles on it and priced $3k less than what they were currently selling for on the sales floor.]

And one time I listed a bike at about 2:00 a.m on Saturday and by 10:00 am Saturday I had it sold. [Inquiry e-mails started coming in about 7:00 am.]

 

LOL Lime Green.

It's too bad that the forum changed the For Sale Section. Now it just feels like any other online add instead of a community.

I’d even fly to LA for the right car, with the forum looking out for me. I’d rather buy an enthusiasts Mini then some of the crap I’ve seen lately.

Yes, Living on CL lately, Sac and Bay Area.

 

When I have looked for cars I have always been willing to go to L. A. for the absolutely, 110% PERFECT car that I see on Craig's.

It's a challenge for sure, but L. A. has some nice MINIs. I note that it is not for everyone, travelling 400 miles to shop for a car.

But check out this L. A. listing. This is the kind of ad that I consider worthy of a call to make further inquiries. And I would jump on it too if it is a perfect as the ad says it is [no reason not to believe him]:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/cto/807860844.html

For posterity I'll attach a screen capture of the ad.

 

By the way, what we did when I was helping a friend buy his car, we went to L. A. on a Thursday, then started checking the ads on Friday.

We drove down so we would have a car to travel all over the county if needed [and we did drive all over the damn place.]

Ended up finding something on a Saturday evening. But it took two full days of going all over the place. I think we looked at about 15 cars. One was perfect, but the seller would not accept our low ball offer, when we left and called to say we would pay the asking price she said it just sold.

Overall it was worth the effort considering the huge number of cars down in L. A. to pick from.

 

Having gotten a sunroof on my CR 03, I'd say skip the sunroof.

Red looks right on a MINI, bright and cheerful. Silver blends with the color of the highway too much, and looks like a color someone might pick from a casket catalog.

 

Them's fighting words.

 

That might explain why I never get pulled over no matter how fast I'm driving, it never
occured to me that the troopers just can't see my MINI on the road....

 

Well resmini obviously has not read the latest Motortrend article on which color has the highest resale.

 

Come on don't fight. We all know blue is faster...



It's the wifes selection, White, Blue or Green. Dark Silver gets maybe.

 

OK, I deserve to be in trouble for my comments about silver. Actually, it used to be one of my favorites, (a silver 67 Corvette is one of my dream cars), but it got so popular I decided to get something else. Besides, at 65 I don't want a car that's the color of most caskets.

 

"love bites" I like that, I'm gonna have to remember that one!

ddawson - Sorry to hear it wasn't the one for you, and more so that it was a waste of your time. I too don't like it when a seller misrepresents what they're trying to sell. It's a shame, especially when you're gonna find out in the end anyways as to what the true condition is when you see it in person, so the seller may as well speak the truth. I guess the truth hurts sometimes.

If you find one in L.A. I'd be willing to help you out with a pre-inspection so to speak, so you don't have to waste a trip down here.

 

05 all the way, 05 has closer ratio tranny and nicer 3-point steering wheel. No options equals lighter funner car (Say No To Fat MINI Pigs), fabric seats hold you better around turns than leather and lighter. NO SUNROOF was the only mandatory must "not have" item on my last 2 MCS. Why would anyone want 80lbs on the absolute worst location-on roof???? Only option I like is the License Retention System (cruise control)

 

I don't think you are in trouble. The below spy shot has been circulating the Net.

"CS" [Casket Silver] is apparently a new color and package coming out.

You are off the hook in my book.

 

2005 definetelly. i have read that there was more minor problems until 05. my 2004 has only had a few things wrong. bad door lock, bad hatch lock, door handles freezing, rattling.

 

Personally I love red. Second, I love the '05 gearing and LSD. Options are EVERYWHERE for this car, maybe not factory, but you can still really customize the heck out of it. I also blacked out the windows and wheels and it looks pretty mean now. I love it. Have to post a new pic in the gallery tho

 

Thanks for saving me.